Peter Sallis, a beloved actor who brought joy through a wide variety of characters, has died. He was 96.
Born in Twickenham in 1921, his family moved to Southgate where he attended school before going on to follow his father into banking. Yet during his World War II service in the RAF, he found a new calling: asked to play the lead in a production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever, he immediately embraced the idea of acting, and enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art following the end of the war.
He began acting on the stage regularly, which in turn led to film and TV work. He appeared in an eclectic group of films, including several British horrors (Scream And Scream Again, Taste The Blood Of Dracula, and more) and the likes of 1970's Wuthering Heights, Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe? and Escape By Night.
Yet it was on television that he truly became best known, working solidly as a guest star before finding his first real recognition – at least vocally, a hallmark of his work – on the 1980s adaptation of The Wind In The Willows. And then there was Last Of The Summer Wine, which ran between 1973 and 2010, and brought Sallis to even greater fame as the nervous but charming Norman Clegg. He became the show's longest-serving cast member, appearing in 295 episodes.
And he was the perfect person for Aardman's Nick Park to recruit as the voice of the cheese-loving, absent minded inventor Wallace in the Wallace And Gromit shorts and movies. The bumbling hero and his savvier hound made it to the big screen with the full-length feature The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.
"I'm so sad, but feel so grateful and privileged to have known and worked with Peter over so many years. He was always my first and only choice for Wallace," Park said in a statement carried by the BBC. "Working with him was always a delight and I will miss his wry, unpredictable humour and silliness - that started the moment he greeted you at the door, and didn't stop when the mic was switched off."
Sallis died on Friday surrounded by his family.